By Nohad Topalian | 2023-11-13

BEIRUT -- Hundreds of mostly Syrian refugees have been fleeing Lebanon for Cyprus amid worsening economic conditions and fears the Hamas-Israeli war will spread.

Cross-border exchanges of fire have intensified since Hamas's October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, with Hamas ally Lebanese Hizbullah and affiliated factions firing rockets into Israel, sparking retaliatory fire.

The violence has triggered mass displacement from border towns and villages, with more than 19,500 people fleeing north as of October 23, per the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Some have sought refuge further afield via illegal migration.

During the last week of October, Cyprus received 458 Syrian migrants from Lebanon, officials said, warning that the small island's ability to handle large numbers of migrants was limited.

Authorities said 194 Syrians arrived late October 28 aboard four boats from Lebanon and were taken to the Pournara reception center outside Nicosia.

Later, two more vessels were intercepted with a combined 32 people on board and taken to the southern port of Larnaca.

A week earlier, 264 Syrian migrants arrived on three boats from Lebanon -- a relatively short journey across the Mediterranean Sea as both Syria and Lebanon are less than 170km from the island.

Interior Ministry official Loizos Hadjivasiliou said the Pournara centre was now full, and an emergency plan had been activated to handle an increase in migrant arrivals because of the Hamas-Israeli war.

The European Union (EU) member has asked Brussels for emergency assistance.

'Death boats' and smugglers

Lebanon, which is mired in a political and economic crisis, has seen an increase in illegal migration out of the country, especially by families from impoverished Tripoli and the northern regions.

Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees who had found shelter in Lebanon have been making their way toward Cyprus, Greece and Türkiye in increasing numbers -- paying smuggling gangs thousands of dollars for the chance to leave.

Unscrupulous gangs have been smuggling migrants via ill-equipped boats, which are known in Lebanon as "death boats" for the high risks and danger they pose.

Some boats have sunk from technical failure, while others have been intercepted by Lebanese security services during maritime patrols.

In September 2022, a boat carrying 150 Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian passengers that set off from Tripoli sank off the Syrian coast. Only 20 survived.

Another boat sank in April of that year, with 40 people drowning, including the wife and two children of Tripoli native Bilal al-Dandashli.

Facing hardship as a result of the economic crisis in Lebanon, al-Dandashli and his two brothers prepared a boat, "which set off with 80 people on board, most of them children," al-Dandashli told Al-Fassel.

The boat set sail "from the Qalamoun shore in the north," he said, but sank before arriving at its destination.

"Whoever was able to swim survived, and the rest drowned, including my wife, 4-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter," he said.

"I put my family at risk and lost it, and I hope that no one will ever embark on this misadventure that leads to death," he said.

'Lack of hope of relief'

Despite the known risks, al-Dandashli said, many Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian families choose to make the risky journey "in death boats."

A 61-year-old Tripoli native who asked that his name be withheld recounted his recent attempt at illegal immigration, which he said was set in motion by the "lack of hope of relief" from the repercussions of Lebanon's economic crisis.

"My wife, myself and our three children, along with 13 people, set off last September 22 on a boat that took us to Türkiye, and from there we traveled to Bulgaria through the forests," he told Al-Fassel.

"We were arrested in Sofia and were sent back to Türkiye and then to Lebanon by airplane on October 7."

Observers are warning that amid the uptick displacement from Lebanon's southern border, more migrants may undertake the risky trip.

Residents of southern Lebanon have denounced the so-called "axis of resistance" — which includes Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq — for putting them in danger.

"The 'resistance' launched a war from our town that we do not want," said mother of three Janoub Sweid, 33, who fled with her children from the border town of Dhayra taking nothing with them.

In her hometown of Dhayra, she told Al-Fassel, there is "no medicine, water, electricity or money to keep my children away from the sounds of the bombing."

"Migrants board ill-equipped boats, risking their lives and [the lives of] their families and children, and this has led to the loss of entire families," said documentary-maker Assaad Bechara.

"The gangs that organize illegal migration operate the boats for profit without any [safety equipment] or guarantees for the immigrants," he said.

Bechara's documentary, "Escape to the Depths," focuses on migrants who survived drowning and returned to Tripoli.

The waves of illegal migration "may increase in frequency from the eastern Mediterranean, specifically from the Syrian and Lebanese shores because of worsening economic crisis," he said.

That "means additional disasters such as the death boats of Tripoli."